Locking handwheel



July 10, 1928.

A. W. SCOTT ET AL LOCKING HANDWHEEL Filed Dec 11, 1924 s Sheets-Sheet hid July 10, 1928. A. w. SCOTT El AL LOCKING HANDWHEEL Filed 15%; 11, 1924 s Sheets-Sheet 2 4 WWW 4 w c -l- W QMJWK II I \,\r. 7. 6 0O J 2 July 10, 1928. 1,676,465-

A. w. SCOTT :1- AL LOCKING HANDWHEEL Filed Dec. 11, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 2/ 1/ Q I J/ 6' 20 A 77 77 Em x A; 26 5/ Fatentecl July 1%, E9218.

pair:-

ra s

ALVA W. soor'r an]; HARVEY n. GEYER, on Dayton, onto, Assrenons ro THE 11v- LAND MAnUracTUnrnsooMPnNY, or DAYTGN, OHIO, A oonronar'rolvor DELA- "WARE.

Application filed December 11, 1924..

This invention relates to locking handwheels and is especially adapted for steering wheels for motor vehicles to prevent unauthorized use thereof.

This invention embodies a number of improvements over the locking. wheel disclosed in application, Serial No. 640,783 by :Harvey D. Geyer and Alva WV. Scott, filed May22, 1923.

A feature of this invention is the simple and efficient form ofv the locking bolt and lock mechanism which occupies only a small space and hence may be encased and protected by a protective casing of relatively small size.

Another feature is the provision of a key controlled swinging or rotary bolt for rendering the wheel either rotatablyrfixed or loose upon its shaft, the same bolt being also used to control the means forpreventing an unauthorized person from removing the wheel from its shaft.

Another feature is the provision of a wheel and lock mechanism which may he completely assembled before being attached to the steering shaft and which may then be easily and quickly attached to the steering shaft by holding the locking key in a certain position.

Another feature is the provision of a retaining ring orcovcr plate which is assembled upon the wheel mechanism when the wheel is lnverted and wh ch is locked against removal by gravityoperated means ble' jamming of the bearings by lateral cocknut and out through the top of the wheel and yet permits relative rotation of the nut and head whereby the wheel mechanism may be secured to the steering shaft with the horn r-Wltflll' mechanism 111 place.

LOCKING nAnDvrH-nnn Serial No. 755,182.

Fig. 1 is a plan view of alocking steering wheel built according to this invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view thereofwith certain parts broken away, the lock key being shown in Figs. 1 and 2 secured by a temporary. at-

tachment in the position for attaching'the wheel to the steering shaft; i

Fig. 3 is a top view on an enlarged scale of the protective shell and shows the interior mechanism in dotted lines.

Fig. 4 is a section on line l4cof Fig. 3

and shows the wheel and dash lines.

Fig. 5 is'a section on line 55 of Fig. 3 and shows certain parts of the horn button projecting above the protective shell.

Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 3 but showing the barrel lock and bolt shaft in elevation. i f

Figs.-7, 8 and 9 are detail views of the barrel lock .andfbushing.therefor, Fig. 9 being the outer end elevation, Fig. 8 the plan view thereof, and Fig. 7 the inner end elevation thereof. a I

;Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the-swinging bolt and shaft therefor, and i Fig. 11 is an end elevation thereof.

In the drawings, similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views. V

Numeral 1O designates the steering wheel rim having a metal spider 11.1 gidly secured spider proper in dot thereto. The steering shaft 12 has an upper tapered end 13 (see F ig.: 4:) and a threaded portion l t at its topmost end. A. journal head fits snugly down over the tapered end 13 of the shaft 12 and is keyed thereto by the key 16. Anut is screwed upon the threaded end 14 and thus firmly anchors the head l5 against axial removal from the shaft 12. A hardened steel. shell member is journaled upon ,the head 15 and nut 20- by means of the upper ball bearing 21' andthe lower ball .bearing22, as clearly illustrated in"Figs 4 and 5.' This shell member 25 is provided with a bottom cover plate 26 which has threaded engagement thereloo I is

(ill

with as shown at 27, which threaded en-- gagement permits the proper adjustment of the ball bearings 21 and 22 at any time, as will 3 be readily understood from the drawings. v V a 7 The head is provided with one or more lateral recesses 28 (two being shown in Figs. 3 and 1) to receive a locking bolt 30 for locking the shell fixed to said head 15 or to permit relative rotation therebetween. The bolt (preferably made of three layers of stamped sheet steel as shown in Fig. 6) is rigidly fixed upon the bolt pin.

31, the ends of which pin 31 serve as journals for mounting the bolt in the protective shell 25 so that it may be swung to various positions inl'he bolt chamber 32 as will presently be described (see Fig. 6).

A key controlled barrel lock 35 is mounted at one end of pin 81 and thc rotatable barrel 36 of said lock is held indriving engage--v as wellas the other recesses in shell 25 clearly shown in Fig. 6. This cut away metal is replaced by a hardened steel bushing 40 which is pressed'into place against the annular shoulder 4-1 and held retained in its proper position by the driven pin 42 whose outer end lies flush with the bottom of shell 25 and hence cannot bereinoved by a thief after once being driven into place. I The stationary bushing of lock35 is permanently held in place in the steel. bushing 40 by a small driven pin 43 as clearly shown in Figs. 8 and 9. It will be clear from the plan view shown in Fig 3 that the bushing 40 must have an arcuate portion ll cut out of one side thereof in order to clear the head 15, and a second and deeper arcuate portion l5 eut outin order to clear the bottom cover plate 26 and so permit its assembly upon the shell 25.

A coil spring 46 surrounds pin 31 .and has one end secured to'said pin while the opposite end isheld stationary by means oflugi l? on the fixed plate 48.. This coil spring 16 urges the bolt 30 to rotate counterclockwise into recess 28 until stopped'by the shoulder 29. abutting the edge of plate 26 (asshown in full lines in Fig. 4), and thus fix't-he steeringwheel in driving position'upon the shaft. In order to render the wheel-loose or inoperative itis necessary to swing the bolt30sabout.90 degrees in a clockwise direction v to the position: 30' (shown in dotted lines) by means of the key 49' and withdraw .the key from the lock 35: The lock tumblers (not shown) will then hold the bolt 30' in its inoperative position and thus prevent any unauthorized use of the machine. lVhen it is again desired to render the wheel operative the key 49 is inserted thus releasing the lock tumblers, whereupon the coil spring {16 will. swing bolt 30 against thecylindrical side of head 15. The wheel is then rotated until one of the recesses 28 registers with the bolt 30 whereupon said bolt will snap into the recess 28 and the wheel is then fixed in driving relation to the shaft- 12. The method of assembling the parts of the wheel lockmechanism together and attaching it to the steering shaft will now be described.

The protective shell "25 is inverted and the ball bearing 21 and the nut 20 in sertedtherein, the bolt 30 being in the position-30. The 'socketed head'15 is next dropped in against the nut 20. The bottom cover plate 26 and the ball bearing 22 are then inserted and the cover plate 26uis screwed into the shell 25 untilrthe proper adjustment of both ball bearings 21 and 22 is obtained. is inserted loosely in the recess 51 in shell 25 before cover plate 26 is inserted as above described (see Fig. The cover plate 26 is provided with a number 01- spaced recesses52 which register with the gravity pawl 50 as plate 26'is screwed into place. However since the shell 25 is held in inverted position while cover plate 26 is being screwed into place it will be obvious that pawl 50 will fall into the bottom of its recess 51 and so will not prevent the rotationot' cover plate 2 6. When the shell is again held in normal position the pawl 50 will fall against cover-plate 26, and it said plate is turned in an attempt to remove it when in normal position the pawl 50 will drop into the first recess 52 with which it registers. and thus lock the cover plate against removal. If desired, a small. set screw 53' accessible from the outside may be provided for holding the exact adjust ment of cover plate 26 upon the bearings 21' and 22. r

The steering wheel rim and spider are A gravity operated pawl. 5t

preferably attached to the protective shell 25 after the above described assembly has been'made. but obviously they could be at tached before such assembly since the entire wheel could then be easily inverted for the assembling of thelock mechanism as above described. .The metal spider 11 is preterably provided with a central housing 17 which surrounds and conceals the protective shell, 25 except for the opening, at the bottom of said housing which permits the hous ing. 17 to be set down over theprotective shell 25'. The spider ll'may be secured to the shell 25 in any suitable manner. In the drawings the two screws a l serve this purpose well since they are spaced quite tar apart. to easily transmitthe driving torque to the posit-ion as clearly shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. The bolt 30 is swung into engagement with the recess by means key 1-9. This engagement 1S easily ob tained by exerting a clockwise torque on the key 49 and rotating the wheel until the heel 61 registers with and snaps into the recess .60. The wheel may now be turned loosely about the head 15 since the bolt 30 out of engagement with the head 15 and the bolt- 80 will actas a wrench to screw nut '20 down upon the shaft 12 until head l5 pressed home upon the tapered portion '13 of shaft 12. I The key is then released to permit bolt 30 to move back into its driving position under the urge of coil spring 46 and the wheel is then ready for use. lt will be obvious that the wheel maybe removed from the shaft 12 by the use of the key 4-9 in a similar manner.

In Figs. land 2 there is shown a short piece of bent wire for holding key 49 in such position that the bolt 30 is in engagement with nut 20 as above described. The wheels may beshipped from the factory with the key 49 wired in this'position. In order to attach the wheel to an automobile steering shaft, the user need only remove his old wheel, place this wheel upon the threaded end of the steering shaft and rotate it a few turns until the nut isscrewet down and then cut or otherwise remove the wire 65. The wheel is then completely assembled up.- on the steering shaft and ready fol-use.

The horn switch m-echanisn'i shown in the drawings will now be described, however the presence or absence of such switch mechanism does not alter the method of assembly or operation of the locking mechanism as described herein-above. The steering shaft j present inventon as herein disclosed, con- 12 is provided with a stationary housing 7 0 (see Fig. 2). An insulated contact ring 71 is suitably secured withinsaid housing and is connected to a wire 72 leading to an electric horn which has a second terminal leading to the electric battery. The head 15 is provided with two apertures 73 in which the two movable contact pins 74 are reciprocable. The two pins 74: are riveted at their upper ends to the annular ring 75 (see Fig. 5), which ring 75 is reciprocable in the annular groove 76 cut in the lower part of nut 20. The two small coil springs 7'? normally the d 'aw .ngs.

hold ring 75 inits up position against the top wall of annular groove 76' as shown in The ring 75- may be depressed by the two short pins 80 which are reciprocable through the two small apertures 81 through the nut 20. The short pins 80 are-riveted to the small disc 82, which in turn is reciprocatcd by the central pin 83 extending tln'ought-he small central aperture 8% in the protective shell 25.- The horn button 85 is mounted upon the upper end of pin '83 by means of the flanged disc 86 which is rotatably attached to the upper end of pin 83 at as clearly shown in the drawings. provided to prevent looseness and rattling of the horn button bycausing the shoulder 88the reof to be pressed against the cor? responding shoulder 89 on the spider 11'. It Wlll now turned loosely about head 15, the horn'but ton 85 and disc 86 may rotate with the wheel by turning about the loose connection '90 while all the rest of the switch operating A light coil spring 87 is-prcferably *e*clear thatwvhen the WllGGl'lS to, and electrically insulate pins 74l-and ring 75 from the 'groujnd-ed metal parts; Qhe two pins (4 will then bridgeiacrcss the two seg ments when the horn .buttonflSS is depressed,

regardless of the-position of the steering wheel, and thus complete the electric circuit without grounding the same i It will be noted that the slip connection between the short pins 80 and the annular ring 75 will permit the nut 20 to be screwed down upon the threaded shaft 12 while head 15 is held from rotation by the key 16, as described above for the assembly of the wheel upon the steering shaft.

TVhile the form of embodiment of the upon said shaft above said head and pre-- venting axial removal of said head, a wheel having a central housing surrounding and preventing access to said nut, a rotary lock ing bolt having two positions for rendering said wheel fixed or loose upon said shaft,

said bolt being capable of being swung into rotary bolt capable of being swung into engagement with said nut whereby said nut may be turned upon the threads on said shaft by rotating said wheel.

3. Ina wheel and shaft locking means, a head attached to said shaft, a nut threaded upon said shaft above said head and pre venting axial removal of said head, a wheel having a central housing surrounding and preventing access to said nut, a key operated rotary bolt capable of being swung intoassembling position for operativeengagement with said nut, into a loose position for rendering said wheel loose upon said shaft, and into a driving position for operative engagement with said head whereby said wheel is put in driving engagement with said shaft.

4. In a wheel and shaft locking means, a head attached to said shaft, a nut threaded upon said shaft above said head and preventing axialremoval of said head, a wheel having a' central housing surrounding and preventing access to said nut, a key operated rotary bolt capable of being swung into assembhng position for operative engagement with said nut, into a loose position for rendering said wheel loose upon said shaft, and

into a driving position for operative engagement with said head whereby said wheel is put in driving engagement with said shaft, said bolt having a spring acting thereupon normally holding it out of said assembling position and in said driving position.

" 5. In a wheel and shaft locking means,

a wheel, a'protective shell connected to the wheel and rotatable therewith, a head encased by said shell and having an exposed aperture adapted to beset over said shaft, a nutencased by said shell and adapted to be threaded upon said shaft to retain said .head thereupon,.- and a key operated pawl encasedby androtatable with said shell capable of engagement with said nut,whereby said head and nut, may-be secured to said shaft while assembled within said protective shell.

6. In a lock steering wheel, a wheel having a protective shell at its central portion, a journal head protected by said shell and adapted to be anchored upon a steering shaft, a retaining plate for preventing withdrawal of the head from said shell, and gravity controlled means for locking said plate against'removal from said shell, said means being held down by gravity in locking position when the wheel is held in normal position.

7. In a lock steering wheel, a wheel having a protective shell at its central portion,

a journal head protected by said shell and adapted to be anchored upon a steering shaft, a retaining plate for preventing withdrawal of the head from said shell, and gravity controlled means for locking said plate, against removal from said shell, said means being held down by gravity in looking position when the wheel is held in normal position and out of locking position'when the wheel is held in inverted position. I

' 8. In a handwheel and shaft locking means, a wheel having a protective shell at its central portion, a journal head rotatably mounted, within said shell, and adapted to be fixed to a shaft, locking means for locking said wheel fixed or loose upon said head, a retaining means for preventing withdrawal of the head from said shell, and a gravity controlled detent held down by gravity in looking position and positively preventing removal of said retaining means when said wheel is held in normal position.

9. In a wheel and shaft lockingmeans, ashaft adapted to have ,a wheel mounted thereupon, a wheel having a protective shell and a journal head and lock mechanism associated therewith all encased within said protective shell while detached from said shaft, gravity controlled retaining means for preventing removal of said head from said shell when the wheel is held in normal position, and means controlled by said lock mech anism for mounting said'journal head upon said shaft while said head is assembled within said shell. I p p In testimony whereof we hereto aflix our signatures. W

- ALVA w. sooTT.

HARVEY n. earns.

ion 

